Lubricating system for mowing machines



s. 3. SMITH. 4 LUBRICATING SYSTEM FOR MOWING MACHINES- APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 18, 1920.

Patented Mar. 7, 1922.

Fl lCE.

EXIDNEY fiILAS SMITH, O33 G-EBLACH, NEVADA.

LUBRICATING rBYSTElM FOR 'MOVYING MACHINES.

Application filed September 18, 1920.

To all whom it may 0012 cam Be it known that I, SIDNEY SILAS SMITH, a citizen of the United States, residing at Gerlach, in the county of Washoe and State of Nevada, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Lubricating Systems for Mowing Machines, of which the following is a. specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings.

This invention relates to mowing machines, and particularly to the lubrication thereof.

The general object of my invention is to provide means whereby oil may be directly carried from an oil reservoir or supply tank to the various bearings of the machine and to the other parts of the machine where friction renders lubrication necessary.

A further object is to provide a construe tion of this character wherein the supply tank is associated with the housing of the main transmission gear wheel, this main gear wheelthrowing oil from the housing into the supply tank, from which the oil passes by means of pipes to the various points requiring to be lubricated.

A further object is to provide means for automatically oiling various bearings and other parts of a mower of such character as will save labor, will prevent the bearings and bearings from being burned out, and does away with the necessity of hand oiling and the use of oil holes which latter are liable to become filled up with dirt or become gummed up.

And a further object is to provide a construction of this character which will permit the use of either cheap or high grade oil.

My invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein Figure 1 is a top plan view of a mowing machine having my improved oiling system applied thereto;

Figure 2 is a section through the gear housing D showing the position of the oil receiver 10;

Figure 3 is a perspective view of the oil receiver 10 showing the pipes leading therefrom;

Figure 4c is aside elevation of the gear F and th housing D partly in section;

Referring to the drawings, it will be seen that I have illustrated my mechanism as applied to a common form of mowing machine, wherein A. designates the main frame of the machine, 13 the traction wheels Specification of Letters Patent Patented Mar. '7, 1922.

Serial No. 1,203.

mounted upon the transmission shaft 0. and T the tongue of the machine. Disposed within the housing D is the usual gear wheel in which receives its power from gear wheel I? mounted on shaft C. Extending from the housing D is th shaft H which extends through the tubular sleeve or bushing of the main frame. and at its end on rries the eccentric 1 whereby power is communicated to the pitman J. This pitman in turn is operatively connected to the knife bar K operated on the usual ledge plate which is supported by the shoe L at its inner end which forms part of the frame of the machine. So far all these parts are well known and form no part of my invention.

. By my invention 1 contemplate forming in the housing D and as part thereof an oil supply tank 10, which is L-shaped, as illustrated in Figure 8, so as to extend across the periphery of the gear wheel E and'eX- tend forward at the side of the gear wheel. This supply tank is open at the top and is fed with oil by a splash feed; In other words, the rotation of the gear wheel E causes oil to be drawn up from the lower portion of the housing D into which oil is put and discharged into. the supply tanklO.

Extending from the supply tank 10 are a plurality of pipes 11, 12, 13 and 14:. These pipes carry the petcocks 15 whereby the passage of oil through the tubes or pipes may be regulated. The pipe 11 extends over the top of the main frame and discharges into the usual oil hole 16 which lubricates that bearing of the main shaft C which is remote from the housing D. The pipe 12 extends from the oil tank to the opening 17 which is immediately over the other bearing for the main shaft, that is that hearing which is nearest to the housing D. From the supply tank extends a pipe 14: which extends transversely across the machine, then forward, and then laterally and discharges onto the supporting plate 18 upon which thefoot of the pitman J slides, while the pipe 18 extends from the oil supply tank over that part of the frame of the machine which forms the bearing for the shaft H, dis charges into the oil hole 19, thus discharging oil upon the bearing for the forward end of the shaft E.

It will be obvious that with this construction the oil within the housing D and within which the gear wheel E runs is splashed into the oil catcher or tank 10, and that from there this oil finds its way by gravity through theseveral pipes 11, 12, 18 and 1a to the several bearings and thus keeping these bearings lubricated automatically, doing away with the necessity oil hand lubrication-and also doing away with the chance of the oil holes becoming gummed up or plugged up and filled with dirt. This automatic lubrieating system, it will. be seen, also eliminates danger Off the machine running dry and the bearings becoming burned out as a consequence thereof. All that the operator has to do is to see that the housing D is half full of oil and thereafter the machine works automatically in lubricating the other bearings.

While I have illustrated a particular form ol. mowing machine on which my lubricatin g system is applied, I do not wish to be limited thereto, as it is obvious that it may be applied to all forms of mowing machines, and it is also obvious that it may be varied in many ways without departing from the spirit of the invention. 7

I claim 1. A mowing machine including traction wheels, amain transversely extending shaft, aforwardly extending pitman driving shaft, a pitman operatively connectedthereto, a

member connected to the pitman and reciprocating therewith, a housing extending over the main gear wheel and adapted to contain oil into which said maingear Wheel dips, an approximately L-shaped supply tank mounted within the upper portion of the housing and having a portion extending transversely of the face of themain gear wheel and receiving oil splashed therefrom, this portion of the supply tank being open, the other arm of said supply tank extending parallel to the side or the main gear'wheel and being closed at its top,iand a plurality of pipes leading from the supply tank to the bearings of the machine, each of said pipes being provided with avalve. i

2. A mowing machine including a main supporting frame, traction wheels, a main transversely extending shaft, a main driving gear operatively connected to one of the traction wheels, a forwardly extending shaft operatively connected to the main driving gear to be driven thereby, a housing for the main driving gear and adapted to contain oil, apitman operatively connected to the forwardly extending shaft to be reciprocated thereby, a membercarried by the treeend of the pitman, a supporting plate carried by the main frame and upon.

which said member reciprocates, an approximately L-shaped supply tank mounted with in the upper portlon of the housing and open at the top and receiving oil splashed into it signature.

SIDNEY SILAS SMITH. 

